Jeremiah 15

1Then Yahweh said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my soul would not be toward this people. Send them away from before me, and let them go out.”

2And it shall be, when they say to you, ‘Where shall we go?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Those for death, to death; and those for the sword, to the sword; and those for famine, to famine; and those for captivity, to captivity.’

3And I will appoint over them four kinds, declares Yahweh: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

4And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

5For who will have compassion on you, Jerusalem? And who will mourn for you? And who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

6You have forsaken me, declares Yahweh; you keep going backward. So I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you; I am weary of relenting.

7I winnowed them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land; I bereaved, I destroyed my people; they did not turn back from their ways.

8Their widows have become more numerous to me than the sand of the seas. I have brought against them, against the mother of a young man, a destroyer at noon; I have suddenly made city and terrors fall upon her.

9She who bore seven has withered away; she has breathed out her life. Her sun has gone down while it was still day. She is ashamed and humiliated. And the remnant of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, declares Yahweh.

10Woe to me, my mother, because you bore me, a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land. I have not lent, nor have they lent to me, yet every one of them curses me.

11Yahweh said, “Surely I have set you free for good; surely I have made the enemy plead with you in a time of disaster and in a time of distress.”

12Can iron break iron from the north, and bronze?

13Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, because of all your sins, throughout all your territory.

14And I will make your enemies pass into a land you have not known, for a fire has been kindled in my anger; it will burn against you.

15You know, O Yahweh; remember me and attend to me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your patience do not take me away; know that for your sake I bear reproach.

16Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart, for your name is called over me, O Yahweh, God of hosts.

17I did not sit in the company of those who laugh, nor did I rejoice; because of your hand I sat alone, for you filled me with indignation.

18Why has my pain become perpetual, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive brook, like waters that are not reliable?

19Therefore, this is what Yahweh says: If you return, I will restore you, and you will stand before me. If you bring out the precious from the worthless, you will be as my mouth. They will turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

20And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they will not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, declares Yahweh.

21And I will deliver you from the hand of evil men, and I will redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.